Airplane with foldable wings



Aug. 5, 1930. J. J. wARGo l AIRPLANE WITH FOLDABLE WINGS Filed Nov, 13, 1928 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTQR JOHN J. WARGO Z441 HCHUIHU I IUC J. J. wARGo Mg. s, 1930.

A-IRPLANE WITH FOLDABLE WINGS Patented Aug. 5, 1930 PATENT! OFFICE JOHN J. WARGO, OF OYSTER BAY, NEW YORK AIRPLANE WITH FOLDABLE WINGS Application led November 13, 1928.

This invention relates to airplanes and more particularly to airplanes having wings which may be folded back against the fuselage of the airplane.

It has been known for some time that it is not convenient to store or house together a large number of airplanes with their wings spread for the reason that a prohibitive amount of space is consumed in so doing.

For this reason it has been proposed to so construct the wings of the plane that they may be folded when the airplane is to be housed. Various methods for accomplishing this result have been devised but they have been disadvantageous in that either several men have been required to detach the wings when the plane was being prepared for housing or those devices that have been provided to allow the aviator to fold the wings from the cockpit have been awkward and impractical due to their poor mechanical arrangement of parts. Also these folding devices have been impractical because they failed to provide means to insure folding the wings simultaneously and thus to avoid the difliculty, when one wing is folded, of wind getting under the unfolded wing and tipping the plane.

One object of my invention is to provide improved means for folding the wings of an airplane simultaneously from the cockpit under the control o-f the aviator and operable by him without the assistance of others.

Another object of my invention is to provide means to enable a seaplane to ride easily at anchor during a storm.

Another object is to decrease the wind resistance to a seaplane by providing means rendering the use of wing pontoons unneces sary.

Another object is to provide means constantly under the control of the aviator whereby the wings of an airplane may be simultaneously folded or unfolded, with the engine running at high speed while on land or in the water.

Another object is to facilitate the transportation of an airplane and make possible the movement of the plane through comparatively narrow passages.

Serial No. 319,053.

Another object of my invention is to provide improved means to'fold the wings of an airplane so it may be stored in a hangar of smaller dimensions than is usually essential for airplanes whose wings are spread.

Another object is to provide means to shorten the time required between the unho'using of an airplane and its ascent and between its descent and housing and also to reduce the number of hands required toperform the duties between housing and flight.

Another object is to provide means for a seaplane to ride close to a dock or landing place.

Another object is to provide means to keep an airplane in perfect balance while the wings are being folded in order that the plane will not be tipped over during this operation due to gusts of wind blowing on an unfolded Wing.

Other objects will appear as my invention is described in connection with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings* Fig. l is a plan view of a seaplane embodying my invention, showing the Wings in folded position;

Fig. 2 is a broken plan view of part of the seaplane of Fig. 1 showing the wing folding mechanism on a larger scale;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of the mid-section of the seaplane of Fig. l taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-sectional view through the cockpit taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detailed vertical sectional view of one of my wing latches taken on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2, and showing the latch hooked to the wing;

Fig. 6 is a detailed cross-sectional view of a wing latch taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detailed crosssectional view of my wing strut latch taken on the line 7-7 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary detail plan view of my segmental gear;

Fig. 9 is a view of the convex side of the portion of the segmental gear shown in Fig. 8;

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Fig. 10 is a view of one of my wing latches similar to Fig. 5, taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 but showing the latch in open position.

lVhile I have shown my invention as applied to a seaplane of the type shown and described in my copending application Serial Number 309,605, filed Sept. 27th, 1928, the present invention is not confined to seaplanes but is equally applicable to land planes.

In the drawings the Wings 10 of the airplane are made separately from the plane and are pivotally secured to the fuselage near the nose. The wing surface is continued over the fuselage by a centre Wing section 12 (F ig. 3) fixed to and forming a roof for part of the fuselage so when the wings are spread, a continuous wing surface is formed from wingl tip to wing tip. The pivotal mounting of each movable wing is at two points; one point 13 at the rear of the wing at the fuselage-engaging edge 8; the other point 14 is below the point 13 and where the wing supporting struts 19 engage the fuselage.

To hold the wings in spread or operative position latches 15 spring-biased to closed position are provided at the wing strut pivots and at the front of each wing at its fuselage-engaging edge. These latches are controlled from a single lever mechanism 16, spring-biased to latch-closing position, and placed in the cockpit where it can be easily actuated by the hand or foot of the aviator. Cables 17 lead from the lever mechanism 16 around 1aulleys 18 to the latches. Thus a pressure on the lever 16 exerts a pull on the cables 17 which is transmitted to the latches to open them.

Each strut pivot latch as shown in detail in Figure 7 is formed on a substantially rectangular block 20 of metal, secured to the side 2l of the fuselage. An integral arm 22, projects outwardly from the fuselage at the top of the block. The wing strut 19 is pivotally secured to this arm 22 to allow rotation of the wing from spread to folded position. The lower end of the wing strut 23 is in the form of a disc, through whose centre the pivot pin 14 passes. The periphery of the disc is notched to receive a spring-pressed plunger 25, operating in a well 26 running from top to bottom of the block 20. The disc overlies the top of the well to prevent the plunger from reaching the uppermost extremity of its movement except when the notch 27 registers with the top of the well. Then notch and well are in registry the plunger is pressed up by a compression spring 28 beneath it in the well to lock the disc 23 and hence the strut `and wing in spread position.

block 20, on the side opposite to the arm 22. To the other leg 32 of the bell crank lever one of the latch-actuating cables 17 is fastened. Upon tension being applied to the cable 17 the leg 31 of the bell crank lever will engage the bottom of the slot 29 in the plung er and will cause the plunger. to be depressed against the action of the compression spring 28 to release the disc 23 and wing strut 19 for rotation.

The wing front latches 40, as shown in detail in Figures 5, 6 and l0, are each formed of a hollow rectangular prismatic housing 41 in one end of which is pivoted a bell crank lever 42 for actuating the latch. To one arm 41 of this lever an actuating cable 17 is connected. The cable is led over pulleys 18 from the bell crank lever 42 to the release lever 16 in the cockpit. The other arm 43 of the bell crank lever has several teeth on the end to engage teeth 45 on the inner surface of the top of a channel shaped slide 46 which is adapted to slide back and forth in the housing 41 to actuate a latch member 47. The latch member is pivoted to the housing 41 in the end opposite to that in which the bell crank lever 42 is pivoted to allow the slide 46 to slide, it is cut away at the pivot points of the bell crank 42 and latch member 47. The end of the latch member projects beyond the housing so the latch tongue 48 may engage in a groove or pocket 49 within the wing 1() when the wing is in spread position. The top of the latch member 47 has a curved depression 50 to accommodate a hump 51 on the inner surface of the top of the slide 46. The depression 50 and hump 51 have a similar radius of curvature so when the slide 46 is moved forward or back it causes the latch member 47 to rotate about its pivot 52. By reason of the close engagement of the hump and depression the latch member is incapable of any movement except that which is imparted to it by the slide. This is a desirable feature since it insures locking the wing to the fuselage and it eliminates danger of some one tampering with the tongue of the latch and unlocking the wing as could be done if a conventional spring-pressed latch were used. The slide 41 is biased to closed position by a tension spring 53 secured to the under side of the top of the slide 46 and to the ioor of the housing 41.

The operating mechanism whereby the wings may be folded and unfolded, when the latches 40, l5 are released, will now bedescribed. The operating mechanism is located in the front part of the fuselage beneath the centre section 12 of the wing surface.

Pivoted to the fuselage engaging edge 8 of each wing is one end of a flexible substan tially semi-circular segmental gear formed of a plurality of small internally toothed gear segments 61 pivoted together at their ends and each connected by a pin and slot lll',

connection 64 at its mid-point to a flexible hacker 65 consisting of a long thin band of spring steel o r other strong resilient metal. The construction of these segmental gears 60 is shown in detail in Figures 8, 9.

These gears 60 pass from the wings through holes 66 in the fuselage to the actuating gears of the operating mechanism. As the gears 60 pass through the holes 66 they are held in a fixed path by the back 65 of the gear 60 sliding along the edge of the hole and the teeth meshing with the teeth ona. small idling spur gear 67 m-ounted on a vertical axle 671 in the hole. The radius of curvature of each semi-circular gear 60 is approximately half the width of the fuselage with the result that the backs 65 of the gears abut against each other. To hold these segmental gears 60 in the above relation and to actuate them simultaneously two pinions 68 are mounted on separate vertical pinion shafts 69 so situated that when the parts are assembled in operative relation each pinion 68 will mesh with one of the flexible gears 60 and will hold the flexible gears 60 with their backs abutting. On each pinion shaft 69 below the pinion 68 is a spur gear 70. These spur gears mesh with each other to insure simultaneous movement of the shafts, and, through them, of the flexible gears and wings. To actuate the Wings 10, the flexible gears 60 and the pinion shafts 69, a bevel gear 71 is located on one pinion shaft 69 below the spur gear 70. This bevel gear 71 meshes with a bevel gear 72 on one end of a. horizontal operating shaft 73 suspended from the roof of the fuselage by brackets 74 and having an operating handle 75 on the other end. The operating shaft 13 is long enough to bring the operating handle 75 within reach of the aviator in the cockpit so.

In operating the mechanism, above described, to fold the wings, the release lever 16 is depressed to open the latches 15 and 40. Vhile the latch is depressed the operating handle is rotated. This rotates the gears mechanism and forces the flexible semi-circular gear 60 out through the holes 66 in the fuselage and causes the wings simultaneously to rotate about their pivots 13 and 14 to folded position. All these operations take but a fraction of a minute and the simplicity and ease with which the operations of wing folding and unfolding are accomplished is a definite advance in the art of aviation.

Many modifications Within the scope of my invention will occur to those skilled in the art. Thus, my invention is not limited in use to monoplanes but may be adapted to biplanes and triplanes.

Having described my invention, what I now claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In an airplane, foldable wings supported by struts, operating means for folding and unfolding said Wings, in combination with a plurality of latches including wing latches and wing strut latches to maintain said Wings spread.

2. In an airplane, foldable wings supported by struts, operating means for folding and unfolding said Wings, in combination with a plurality 'of latches including wing latches and Wing strut latches to maintain said wings spread, said latches being operable simultaneously from the cockpit.

3. In an airplane, foldable wings supported by struts, operating means for folding and unfolding said Wings in combination with a. plurality of latches including Wing latches and wing strut latches to maintain said wings spread, said latches being connected by cables to an operating lever in the cockpit for simultaneous operation.

4. In an airplane, folding wings, pivoted wing supporting struts, gear means with agear train for folding and unfolding said wings, in combination with a plurality of latches for holding said wings spread, some of said latches being associated with said wing struts and all of the latches being operable simultaneously from the cockpit.

5. In an airplane, folding wings, pivoted wing supporting struts, gear means with a gear train for folding and unfolding said wings, said means being operable from the cockpit, in combination with a plurality of latches for holding said wings spread, some of said latches being associated with the wing struts, others directly engaging said wings and all being operable simultaneously from the cockpit.

6. In an airplane having foldable wings, operating mechanism for folding and unfolding said wings including flexible gears connected to each wing.

7. In an airplane having foldable Wings, operating mechanism for folding and unfolding said Wings consisting of flexible gears connected to each wing, said flexible gears being positioned with their backs abutting a gear train for actuating said flexible gears, in combination with actuating means for said operating mechanism operable from the cockpit.

8. In an airplane having foldable wings, operating mechanism for folding and unfolding said Wings including substantially semi-circular, internally toothed, flexible gears connected to each wing.

9. In an airplane having foldable wings, operating mechanism for folding and unfolding said wings consisting of flexible gears connected to each wing, a gear train for actuating said flexible gears simultaneously in combination with actuating means for said operating mechanism, operable from the cockpit.

10. In an airplane having foldable wings, internally toothed flexible gears connected to said Wings and operating means for said flexible gears, said flexible gears being substantially semi-circular and formed of a plurality of internally toothed gear segments connected to a metallic band hacker.

11. In an airplane having foldable Wings, a plurality of latches to hold said Wings spread, one-of said latches including a housing, a spring-biased slide slidable Within the lo housing and having a hump thereonaand a pivoted latch member having a depression accommodating said hump to move said latch member to open and closed position when said slide is actuated. 12. In an airplane having foldable Wings, a plurality of latches to hold said Wings spread, one of said latches including a housing, a spring-biased slide slidable Within the housing and having a hump thereon7 a pivoted latch member having a depression accommodating said hump and responding only to movements of the slide to movesaid latch member to open and closed position when said slide is actuated. ,25 13. Inan airplane having foldable Wings supported by struts, Wing strut latches to maintain said Wings spread, said latches ineluding a block having a projecting arm, a pivot on said arm for the Wing strut, said strut having a disc-like notched end, a reciprocable plunger in said block adapted to move in and ont of the notch to lock and unlock the Wing strut.

14. A Wing strut latch for use in an airplane having folding Wings, said latch including a block having a projecting arln, a wing strut with a disc-like end pivoted on said arm, a notch in said disc end, a springpressed plunger reciprocable in said block 4c and adapted to move in and out of said notch to lock and release said Wing strut.

15. An airplane having foldable Wings, said Wings being supported by struts pivot ally mounted on the fuselage, said Wings hav- 4,-, ing a pivotal connection with the fuselage at the Wing corners whereby said Wings, While remaining in their normal horizontal planes, may be rotated.

1G. In an airplane, folding Wings, flexible 50 gear means for folding and unfolding said wings in combination with a plurality of latches for holding the Wings spread, some of said latches directly engaging the Wings and all of said latches being operable simul- 55 taneously from the cockpit.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

JOHN J. VARGO. 

